Sole for boots or shoes



(No Model.)

C. A. KEITH.

SOLE FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

NO. 393,241. Patented NOV. 20, 1888..

Fig. l.

flask 9 r E r & rdilv a/ INVENTB Q UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

CHARLES A. KEITH, OF DANVERS, MASSACHUSETTS.

SOLE FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,241, dated November 20, 1888.

Application filed April 2, 1888. Serial No. 269,241. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. KEITH, of Danvers, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boot or Shoe Soles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of shoes principally for infants and childrens wear, in which the outer sole and upper are permanently connected by chain-stitches, the chains of which are within the upper, while the single-thread portions are upon the outer surface of the outer sole, the upper and sole be ing stitched together with the upper right side out by means of a wax-thread sewing-machine,which forms the chains of the stitches within the shoe.

The invention has for its object to form a depression of considerable depth in the outer surface of the outer sole for the reception and protection of the portions of the stitches that are laid thereon without cutting into said surface.

To this end my invention consists in a sole having a portion of its grain surface pressed inwardly to form a depression extending around the sole near the margin thereof, and its flesh surface cut away, either before or after the formation of said depression to make said surface smooth, the depression, in the grain surface being arranged to receive the outer portions of the stitches that connect the sole and upper.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a view of the inner or flesh side of a sole cut away to form a groove. Fig. 2 represents a section on line :0 m, Fig. 1, before pressure is applied to the grain surface. Fig. 3 represents a similar section, showing the sole after the grain surface has been pressed in to form the depression in said surface. Fig. 4 represents a transverse section of a shoe having the outer sole formed in accordance with my invention, and Figs. 5 and 6 show modifications.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In carying out my invention I take a soleleather outer sole, (1, and with a suitable channeling-knife I cut away a portion of the flesh side to form a groove, 1), therein, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said groove extending around the sole near the margin thereof. I then, by any suitable means, apply pressure to the groove or outer surface of the sole, so as to press said surface inwardly along the groove 2), and thereby form a depression, 0, in the grain surface, as shown in Fig. 3, but without cutting said surface or in any way breaking its continuity. The sole thus prepared is at tached to the upper c by stitches f, the outer portions of which lie in the depression 0 of the grain surface, and are therefore raised above the wearing portions of said surface, as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be seen that by the described improvement a shoe of the class herein referred to is made more desirable than a shoe having a sole the grain surface of which is cut to form a stitch-receiving channel, there being no thin or feather edge to wear ragged and present an unsightly appearance, as there is in a sole having a channel it its grain surface formed by cutting said surface.

This improvement can be used on shoes of sizes larger than those worn by children; but, as above stated, it is intended mainly for small shoes for infants and children.

A modification is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which the depression 0 is formed in a sole of uniform thickness, a corresponding ridge, 1', being thus formed on the flesh side, as shown in Fig. 5. The ridge 1' is then cut away, as shown in Fig. 6, thus leaving the flesh side smooth. I do not limit myself, therefore, to either of the modes of procedure herein shown and described.

I am aware that it is not new to a make a narrow and shallow channel in the outer surface of a sole by compressing or indenting said surface without cutting into the same; but I am the first, so far as I am aware, to form a deep indentation which displaces the material entirely through the thickness ofthe sole and to remove a corresponding part of the flesh surface to level the latter.

I claim- A sole-leather outer sole having its outer or grain side pressed inwardly to form a stitchreceiving depression and its inner or flesh side correspondingly cut away, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses, this 31st day of March, A. D. 1888.

.(IHARLES A. KEITH.

\Vitnesscs:

O. F. BROWN, W. O. RAMSAY. 

